What they say ... testimonials

This lovely family sent us a great student who is so easy and enjoyable to work with - then they thank us! We are proud of our daughter R who convinced us to choose your school. We're so pleased that R found you. You are all so concerned and dedicated towards the kids education, not just about making an income.
Even the private schools don't do these kinds of services.
A big thank you for all your support. We're so impressed with the standard of education you achieve.

This student’s family were extremely anxious about making the right decision in joining us. Their child had had a very unhappy time with illness and unpleasant school experiences. We are really proud of M, … now enthusiastic and enjoying the lessons and taking part! Thank you!
… A big thank you again to all of you at FC, for making the lessons so gripping and entertaining.

This next student arrived with us with very little experience of actually getting work done. His family has also had some personal challenges which created strain for him. During his time with us he has matured a great deal; he now takes on practical responsibilities in his family, and he gets his homework done. From the mother:I have to say that you provide so much more than just an education for J. You have both been so understanding throughout all my communication with you and I really appreciate it. I do worry about J but your support has given me some peace of mind.
He is very proud of his homework grades and has been regularly showing me.

This family’s daughter arrived with us with very serious health problems.Thank you so much for the work you've done with P.
Discovering online schooling with you has made a huge improvement to her life.

This family is happy to recommend us to other home educators.I would like to say is that I am very impressed with the way you run things. I will be recommending you to any other homeschoolers I come across looking for a similar service.

This mother kindly sent us a copy of the recommendation she sent to another mother.The school has been fantastic for him. The head teacher is incredibly supportive.
The classes are small and it works really well. He has sat two international gcses 2 years early as they go on ability not age. [Note. Students can take their IGCSEs as it suits them, from 14 to 18yrs.]
My initial fear was he would become a recluse and have no social life. Quite the opposite he is always out with friends, has a great social life and goes to the gym twice a week for exercise off his own back.
I couldn’t recommend the school enough. They have been fantastic. Most importantly his self confidence has been built up, whereas in state school this was taken away from him.

From a student who left Summer 2013 having completed his exams with better grades than expected.Hi. I just wanted to send this email to say thanks for everything that you've done for me over the past few years, it's really helped me in more ways than I thought, both educationally and morally. All of the teachers deserve credit for the way they teach as it is very easy to get to grips with topics using their methods. It's also much easier when the people who are teaching you are very nice people anyway and are easy to get along with. This was certainly the case with everyone at FC.

From a family whose daughter arrived with strong work refusal. She was very unhappy, in an angry way. Her mother sent us this account of the Education Authority’s visit six months later.[The officer's] opinion was C was very changed (for the better). She remarked she could see it in C’s face straight away. Her interaction was improved from the sulky monosyllabic teen she met at our first inspection, to a smiling, responsive person engaging in eye contact.
The officer remarked we had obviously made the right decision with regard to First College,
I warned the officer the work being done would not be at GCSE standard but the fact that it was being done at all was an achievement in itself. She absolutely agreed.
On looking through the homework said how happy she was to see the Maths being applied to real life situations. She said she often sees reams of sums - but not made into "problems" which one faces in real life.
[The officer] was impressed that you often factor in a "horsey" theme when preparing the English questions to help C specifically as C found writing hard, but horses are her passion.
[The officer] was delighted that because you did not have to keep to a strict curriculum until exam level, you could discuss current news items - such as the Mars simulation. She loved the [essay planning technique] and remarked that by learning this type of planning you could apply it to anything later in life.This young lady later left at 16. We and her mother both regretted it as it would have been quite possible for her to take her exams. It was a shame but the student insisted on starting a job. At her age this had to be accepted. But at least she now knew how to study, as well as how to handle working relationships. She left us equipped to do evening classes without difficulty whenever she wished, to get her exams.

This family’s boy was what we call a ‘high flyer’ student. Of course high quality students do need sensitive personal care.My 16 year old son has attended "First College" for two years and I cannot commend the Principals and Staff highly enough on providing an excellent alternative to mainstream schooling.
My son had been awarded a place at one of the top five performing Grammar Schools in the country. But he found the school overwhelming in its size. So much so that he stopped eating during the day which was a major worry. As a very good student he felt under a lot of pressure from other students constantly asking him to help them because teachers did not give enough support. He became unhappy with all the stress and we were concerned for his health.
To his credit our son began to look for alternative education himself . He came up with the names of three online schools. From the first contact with First College, we were put at ease with explanations in detail as to how the school operated. Any queries that we had were answered in full.
We decided that "First College" was definitely the best option of the online schools and we were right.
From day one his eating habits improved, another medical problem which had been caused by stress disappeared, and his overall attitude improved. The morning lessons allowed him to do homework in the afternoon leaving him with free evenings and weekends to pursue other activities.
However, parents need to realise that, without a teacher being physically present, they should accept the responsibility for their child in respect of starting school punctually, participating in the lessons, and obviously, returning homework on time.
In summary, this method of teaching is an excellent alternative for children who experience problems within the normal education system (for whatever reason).
"First College" has been an excellent provider of 1st class education for my son.
Our family wish you, your family and the school all the best for the future. We hope you go from strength to strength, continuing to offer your first class alternative to mainstream schooling.

That's just a quick selection of feedback we have had. We couldn'tpossibly put all the nice things people say up here. We don't have the time and it would fill pages and pages!